Big Little Lies.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Handmaid’s Tale.
Atlanta.
Saturday Night Live.
These were the big winners last night at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards.
And if you look at these winners closely, you’ll see they all had one common bond — cultural and social relevance.
These shows, whether you personally enjoyed them or not, all tackled issues that are relevant to current American culture. They did this with drama, they did this with comedy, and sometimes a combination of both.
Now if you feel that some of these shows missed their mark, that’s totally fine. I think we can generally agree that Saturday Night Live trotting out Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump week in, and week out lost its steam by spring. However, the fact these shows were addressing issues that directly affected Americans, not only made them more popular, but they stuck the general public, and the Emmy voting community’s ribs more.
That is why series like Stranger Things, and Westworld didn’t stand a chance. Because no matter how good these shows were, they just didn’t strike that emotional, social, or political chord as strongly (or at all) like the big winners.
Some may criticize the choices for Emmy winners, as a typical, or expected ‘Hollywood’ response to the current sociopolitical climate in the country. Of course the shows that took shots at the current presidential regime, or current political party in power would be littered with awards. Supporters of these decisions may say that it’s about time shows like the ones who took home the gold, were recognized by the Emmys.
I’m not here to tell you if you’re right or wrong, I’m just presenting a through line for the winners of the night. What I do ask of you to do is, before you judge these winners — if you haven’t already — watch them. Take the time to let to view them, let them soak into your brain, and then make your opinion. Don’t knee-jerk judge something because it does or doesn’t fulfill your political, or social agenda. Take the time to watch these shows, and then make up your mind. And whether you love these shows, or absolutely detest them — these shows may just offer you a different perspective, and…isn’t that what art’s purpose is?
We’ll be diving more in-depth on the Emmy winners and losers on our forthcoming podcast, till then here’s a list of all the winners and losers.
2017 Emmy Awards – The Winners & Losers
Outstanding drama series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
House of Cards
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Westworld
Outstanding comedy series
Atlanta
Black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Claire Foy, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Ron Cephas Jonas, This Is Us
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
John Lithgow, The Crown
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jeffrey Wright , Westworld
Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets
Donald Glover, Atlanta
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Allison Janney, Mom
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Matt Walsh, Veep
Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
Judith Light, Transparent
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Outstanding limited series
Big Little Lies
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
The Night Of
Genius
Outstanding lead actor in a limited series
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
John Turturro, The Night Of
Outstanding lead actress in a limited series
Carrie Coon, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie
Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies
Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie
Bill Camp, The Night Of
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
David Thewlis, Fargo
Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan
Michael Kenneth Williams, The Night Of
Outstanding variety talk series
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Late Show With James Corden
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Real Time With Bill Maher
Outstanding reality-competition program
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding directing for a comedy series
Jamie Babbit, Silicon Valley
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Mike Judge, Silicon Valley
David Mandel, Veep
Morgan Sackett, Veep
Dale Stern, Veep
Outstanding writing for a drama series
The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things
Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, Westworld
Peter Morgan, The Crown
Bruce Miller, The Handmaid’s Tale
Gordon Smith, Better Call Saul
Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, The Americans
Outstanding writing for a comedy series
Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, Master of None
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Stephen Glover, Atlanta
Billy Kimball, Veep
David Mandel, Veep
Outstanding directing for a drama series
Stephen Daldry, The Crown
Kate Dennis, The Handmaid’s Tale
The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things
Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland
Reed Morano, The Handmaid’s Tale
Jonathan Nolan, Westworld
